Interloper
by Dorminchu
Summary: Rey and Kylo bicker at each other via their connection with the Force. That's it, that's the fic.


_a/n: I just had to write something for this movie. If you don't want to be spoiled, get off your phone, your computer, wherever you're reading this, and go see **The Last Jedi** if you haven't already. It's so good! Not without flaws, but damn good_.

* * *

Rey stirred, standing alone on the bluff overlooking the water, and waiting — for what, she wasn't sure. The final lesson, or something equally monumental. She had no clue what she was supposed to do now, short of additional training with the lightsaber or pouring through the Jedi texts. But she wasn't exactly keen on incurring the displeasure of the locals, no matter what Luke said about them.

For the moment, she was left alone with her thoughts. Probably he'd gone to catch another fish or something. Maybe he was apologizing to the natives for her… disruptions. Rey didn't mind being alone, but she was itching for answers that this place simply could not give her.

The sky was oppressively gray, threatening rain. The long grass itched against her bare legs, and the air was biting this far-up. Even after a day, she wasn't exactly accustomed to it.

Rey made up her mind, then. She walked a good distance to a stony outcrop near the water, sat down on the sturdiest looking rock and closed her eyes, centering her body. It was ennui, perhaps, or the desperate need to know if Finn was alive, the fate of Leia and the rest of the Rebellion.

 _Breathe,_ Luke had instructed her, _just — breathe._

Inhale, exhale. She was aware of the sound, of the beating of her heart and the air rushing to fill her lungs, yet felt a strange disconnect. Taking herself away, far away from the physical confines of the island, delving into the void, she could sense naught. She climbed higher, and higher, probing the atmosphere for a sign. For anything recognizable.

Rey didn't know how long she sat there, sifting through the vastness of space, covered in goose-pimples, when at last it came to her, in chaos and gunfire, growing stronger the more she tried to fight through the madness, searching for a face or a name. Shadows were all she could make out, their cries familiar but indecipherable.

Then a single figure reached towards her from within the heart of the storm, unmistakable. She recoiled in recognition, failing to cut herself off in time.

At once, all traces of outside sound fell away from her ears and she heard only the pulse of her blood, the frantic sound of her heart. Now the picture of Kylo Ren came together in her mind's eye. He was sitting on a bed, maybe, within the confines of a small grey room, clad in full uniform. He blinked, sensing her, and held himself erect, tense.

 **Oh,** he said, without moving his lips. **Rey.**

He spoke carefully, like he was unaccustomed to her name, much less her presence. Rey didn't respond at first, mostly because she couldn't believe it'd actually _worked_ — quickly dismayed to be back with _him_ again, and relieved that he'd at least put on a shirt this time. The minute the latter idea escaped a surge of horror overtook her, and Rey scattered herself from Kylo's presence as he engulfed her for fear of what she might unveil next.

 **I didn't think you'd come back,** he said measuredly.

Rey didn't need to see him in the flesh to sense that he was guarded, and alarmed, but mostly curious as to the cause of her distress. This quiet, subdued Kylo was a far cry from the monster that had pursued her in the forest, roaring for her blood.

 _I_ — _I didn't, either,_ she retorted, wary of him.

Silence overtook them.

 **You know what I want,** Kylo reasoned. **But you won't give it to me. So there's nothing more to talk about.**

Rey inhaled, exhaled slowly. _Are you… sure, about that?_

 **Are _you_?**

She scowled at the taunt, dry as it was, and wished she could conceal her unease.

 **Does Skywalker know?** Kylo asked, almost furtively. **About this — connection, between us?**

Rey's mouth tightened. She did not answer. Kylo seemed to have resigned himself to continuous silence on her end.

 **You're not so angry this time.** **I wonder why.**

Rey found her eyes drawn to the scar marring his pale face, deep and jagged, carving a path down the column of his bony throat. Alarmingly, she felt a lack of desire to run — it was not unlike the compulsion to climb down the bank, discover what was calling to her beneath the icy expanse below.

"I'm not afraid of you, Ben."

She spoke the words aloud, glowering at the gloomy sky and the phantom image of him both. Kylo froze, suddenly far less confident than before. His eyes flashed, jaw tight, and despite the sheer distance between them, she felt his anger boiling, as though it were tangible. Yet it shifted as she looked at him, betraying ambivalence. Rey swallowed dryly, finding herself unable to enjoy her small victory. _And don't you have something better to do?_

 **No.** It sounded belligerent, which helped her mood in a childish sort of way. Then he paused. **You contacted me. Why?**

 _I didn't mean to,_ she growled, humiliated by her ineffable sign of weakness. _It was just —_

(easier, than being alone again)

Her fists curled in defiance, knuckles white and teeth grit.

 **A mistake?**

Rey flinched at the suggestion. _Yes. And I won't let it happen again._

Kylo's mouth curled faintly. It did not reach his eyes as they bored into her. **You never want to talk to me. I never want to talk to you. But here we are.**

Rey closed her own eyes tightly. He laughed, quietly, more of a blunt huff.

 **Oh. That won't work. I can see you.**

"That's _all_ you can see, is it?" she snapped at him.

Kylo said nothing for a moment. She could feel him shift again, more of a shudder. The wind howling, the tide against the earth, a gradual erosion.

 **Yes,** he said at last. **Just you.** He seemed to hesitate before he asked: **And what do you see?**

Rey shivered, knew it was not from cold. _You. In a room, on a bed. You're alone._ Even in the vastness of space, her voice shook. He blinked, as though first recognizing her lack of composure.

 **Are you alone?**

He'd gone far enough. She stood up.

 _Get out of my head, Ren._

He scowled at her. **No. _You_ get out of _mine_.**

"Fine!" Rey spat, and in her head added savagely, _beast!_

There was a seething pause between the two of them. Actually, Rey was the one doing most of the seething. Kylo just stared at her with an expression she wasn't sure how to describe to herself, and she was too angry to try.

 **Okay.**

The tumultuous roar of the wind, and the waves crashing against rocks filled her ears like a rush. Rey was alone again.


End file.
